


Mewo The Brave

by JessAlter



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Backstory, Character Death, Female Roegadyn (Final Fantasy XIV), Fights, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Heavy Angst, Miqo'te (Final Fantasy XIV), Other, Slow Build, Terminal Illnesses, Trans Character, Ul'dah (Final Fantasy XIV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29831637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessAlter/pseuds/JessAlter
Summary: Mewo will one day become the Warrior of Light, but for now she's just another citizen of Ul'dah.Her community struggles to pay for food and shelter working for a mining company that doesn't care if the work brings them to an early grave. When being exceptional with a sword won't build a home or cure an illness, how will she help the people who she loves and grew up with? She will find there are no easy answers and living up to the overblown title "Mewo The Brave" may just be an impossible feat.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Childhood

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first real series, I was writing WoL backstory and just got stuck on the idea of mutual aid and community.

For as long as she could remember, it had always just been Mewo and her father Franz. Every morning he would go off to work in the Nanawa Mines north of Black Brush Station, and every evening he would return and have dinner together with Mewo before tucking her into bed.

Franz was a tall muscular Roegadyn with jet-black hair and bright blue eyes. He wasn’t much taller than any other Roegadyn but at 9 years old Mewo could barely reach up to his waist, even while standing on her toes.

“There’s my little hell-raiser, did you have fun at practice today?” Franz said spotting Mewo through the doorway of his home in the Goblet.

Mewo hummed cheerfully “I won one of my matches against teacher!”

She knew the teacher had been holding back but decided not to mention that part. She had been improving a lot every day and it let her forget about the unpleasant hollow feeling that seemed constantly stuck in the background of her mind.

Franz gave a hearty laugh “That’s my boy. I bet you’ll be teaching the classes yourself soon.”

“Uhn”

Something about the word boy made Mewo feel like she’d swallowed a sea slug. She could never understand why though and figured it would be better not to make a fuss about it. Either way she was happy that her dad was proud of her.

“How was your day at the mines daddy?”

“Lots of smoke, sweat, and clanging. Nothing interesting goes on in there, but it does put food on the table.”

Franz gave an awkward smile, he always seemed to avoid talking about the mines. So instead he gave Mewo a big hug and lifted her up off the ground.

“So what’s on the menu for tonight? I think there was some of that Dodo tenderloin left I can fry up.” Franz asked as he held Mewo up towards the ceiling.

“Dodo and lots of bread too, I’m really hungry!” she replied.

After finishing their meal Franz tucked Mewo in and went to bed himself.

-===-

Early in the morning Mewo would rise out of bed and be greeted by a plate of food her father had left her before heading out to work. After eating she would walk to the gladiator guild to learn how to swing a sword.

“First to arrive as always.” the guild master greeted Mewo as she entered.

“Good morning guild master Swordsong.” she enthusiastically replied

Wasting no time she grabbed a practice sword from the shelf and began swinging at the target dummy. She knew that this time was precious as the guild master would give her his full attention, correcting any errors in her movements. This would only last until his daughter Mylla showed up as she was instructed personally by her father.

Mewo didn’t mind practicing on her own though, there was something calming about it. The part she didn’t like was when everyone else began to show up. Men and boys, all of them were guys. She felt surrounded and out of place, as if she were a kobold in disguise infiltrating the city.

“Alright gather up everyone, we’ll start pairing you off for sparring!” the guild master shouted having decided enough time had passed for everyone to be present.

Mewo couldn’t wait to start, once they were sparring she could forget that itchy feeling and focus entirely on the fight.

Her opponent this time was one of the older boys Eadric, a Hyur almost twice her height with a reach to match. As soon as he readied his stance she lunged forward at him. He responded with a thrust straight at her, but she swatted it away with her shield. Without slowing down she followed up with a forward slash that was quickly side-stepped by him. She expected as much, there was no way she’d be paired with someone who would get hit by that.

They both readied their stances again, this time it was Eadric who initiated. He stepped in and swung diagonally at Mewo who crouched almost to the floor to avoid the blow and sprang forward with a thrust. Her sword was knocked away by Eadric who’s blade had circled back around to meet hers. Responding to this she immediately planted her right foot and kicked as hard as she could at his leg using the momentum from her lunge. The force of the blow caused Eadric to topple over and before he had a moment to recover she was already on top of him with her blade at his throat.

“I forfeit! Gods I’ve seen mongrels that are less vicious than you.” Eadric complained, but there was a wide smile on his face. “Well, how about you get off me and we can go best 2 out of 3, ya?”

The sparring continued until the sun started to set which announced the end of the day. 

“Everyone, you’re dismissed” the guild master’s shout snapped Mewo out of her trance.

As tired as she was, she still rushed out of the guild towards her home in the goblet hoping to be back before her father arrived.

-===-

Franz had been coming home worn out more often recently and on this particular day he was completely exhausted.

“Mewo, dad’s too tired to do anything. Can you grab some of the bread out of the cupboard, we’ll have to settle for that today.” Franz spoke as he lay face down on his bed.

“But dad, I don’t want to eat just bread for dinner.” Mewo pouted as she spoke.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be getting out of this bed until tomorrow” Franz said wearily, his eyes were already drooping.

“I’ll make it then!” Mewo huffed and went off to the kitchen.

It took several minutes and the smell of smoke for her statement to fully sink in for Franz. Once he realized what was happening his eyes shot open and he scrambled out of bed towards the kitchen. There stood Mewo holding a bottle of olive oil while a whole popoto sat burning on the frying pan.

“Mewo, what are you doing!” Franz shouted, his tone was especially firm. The kind he reserved for barking commands at the mines.

“I was just, I was. Um” Mewo panicked and almost dropped the bottle she was holding. She had just wanted to cook food like her father did, but now she felt like she had done something inexcusably bad.

Franz rushed over to the pan and removed it from the stove before the popoto could catch fire. He turned toward Mewo ready to give her a scolding for doing something so dangerous but stopped when he saw her crying.

“I’m sorry. Come here, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled” Franz hugged her and stroked her hair as he consoled her. He hadn’t intended to upset her so much she would start crying, he just wanted her to be more careful.

“I’m *hic* sorry dad” Mewo apologized as she clung to her father.

“The stove is dangerous, I just didn’t want you to get hurt. I shouldn’t have yelled” he continued to stroke her head for a while as he pondered on what to do about the situation until an idea sprung up.

“Hey, what if I asked Lihba if she could teach you? I’m sure she would love to see you. If you learn you can cook for yourself whenever you want, doesn’t that sound great?” Franz asked.

“Granny Lihba? She’d teach me!?” Mewo’s eyes sparkled through her tears. She’d seen the elderly Miqo’te woman stop by the gladiator’s guild occasionally to drop off mended armor and swords. She had to have known all kinds of things about weapons and fighting.

“I’ll ask her tomorrow, for now let’s clean this up and I’ll make us something. Something simple, I don’t know when this second wind will wear off and kick me in my rear.” Franz gave a hearty laugh and set to cooking a light meal for the two of them.

-===-

The next day at sunset Franz brought Mewo with him over to Lihba’s home. The sound of metal hitting metal could be heard as they approached. An anvil was situated outside the home where a muscular Miqo’te woman sporting a heavy apron and goggles hammered away at the blade of a sword.

“Hey Lihba, still at work this late in the day!” Franz called out to her as Mewo scanned all over the work area.

“Franz! I’m just finishing up. Can’t do anything without light after all.” Lihba spoke as she turned around to look at Franz and spotted the small figure standing next to him.

“Is that little Mewo I see over there?” She took off her goggles to get a better look, revealing deep wrinkles around the parts of her eye that hadn’t been covered in soot.

“G-Good Afternoon Ms. Lihba” Mewo stuttered.

“Ha! Ms. Lihba? Are you trying to flatter me? Granny is fine enough. So what brings you two over this way” She gave a beaming smile as she spoke.

“Dad says you can teach me how to cook!” Mewo said enthusiastically.

“Something like that. I can teach him a little bit in the evening, but the mines are wearing me down these days. Sorry for imposing out of the blue like this.” Franz put his hand on Mewo’s head and ruffled her hair as he spoke.

“Wearing you down huh, I see.” Lihba made a face like she’d just eaten something bitter as she spoke. “I can pitch in a bit then.”

Lihba walked up to Mewo and crouched down so their faces were level.

“How about you come around ‘bout noon and we can eat and have a nice chat. That sound good to you Mewo?” she asked.

“Uhn!”

“Well that settles that. You think you can find your way back home on your own? I wanna chat with your dad here a bit. Shouldn’t take too long” Lihba said, tilting her head to look up at Franz.

Franz stared at her for several seconds before turning to Mewo “Run along home, I’ll see you there soon.”

“Umm, okay daddy” she started off towards home and took several steps before looking back at the two. When Lihba saw this she waved goodbye at her. Mewo decided to leave so she wouldn’t get in trouble, even if she was still curious about what they were talking about.

It was completely dark outside before Franz returned back home.

“You said it would only be a bit, I’ve been waiting foreeever.” Mewo protested as soon as he had walked in the house.

“Sorry ‘bout that, seems I lost track of time. I’ll get started on dinner” Franz gave an awkward smile and headed out to the kitchen with Mewo following close behind.

Mewo hummed “So what did granny want?”

“Just catching up, been too long since we spoke.” Franz lit the kindling for the stove as he talked.

“But why’d I have to leave then?” she asked giving a big frown.

“It’s ‘cause we were talking about gross old people stuff, no point sticking around for that right?” Franz grabbed a popoto as he spoke, he seemed to be avoiding looking at Mewo.

“Eww”

“That’s right, eww. So no more of that or you’ll ruin your appetite.” Franz tossed the chopped popotos into the pan and stared intently at them as if they could burn up at any second.

-===-

For the next few months Mewo would stop by Lihba’s home at noon each day and learn the basics of cooking. They would chat while eating the meal they had just prepared and then continue talking as they drank tea after. They mostly talked about Mewo’s parents, Lihba had supposedly been close friends with her mother Fraelona.

“Can you tell me another story?” Mewo pleaded as she snacked on a fresh ginger cookie she had helped bake. Lihba scratched her chin as she thought about what to say before finally settling on a story.

“Well there was the time Franz messed up when he was trying to get on her good side. Fraelona had come to me one morning lookin’ frantic holding a broken pickaxe. She was hoping I could patch it up real quick before work started that day, but that wasn’t happenin’. Franz was there picking up some nails or somethin’ and offered her his pick, said he had a spare somewhere, he didn’t. He got chewed out so bad for showing up with nothin’ that day” Lihba burst out laughing as she recalled the scene.

“And then Fraelona got wind of it and wouldn’t speak to him for a whole week” She broke into a wheezing laugh just as she finished speaking.

Mewo sat there puzzled as she waited for Lihba to stop laughing before asking “But why would mom get angry? Didn’t dad help her?”

“Well he certainly thought he did, but there’s a difference between helping someone and taking their lumps for them. That kind of stuff will leave a bitter taste in your mouth. You wouldn’t wanna see someone else get hurt ‘cause of you, now would ya?” she took a sip of her tea as she finished her sentence.

“I guess not” Mewo wasn’t sure she fully understood, but she figured she could think about it more later.

Lihba stretched her arms out above her head then rolled her shoulders a few times before she continued talking.

“Well yer mom was real bad at the whole love thing too. Franz thought she hated him for the longest time. Then she shows up one Valentines day with chocolates and roses, flat out tells him she wants to be his girlfriend. The look on your father’s face” She gave a short laugh “course I was the one who told her to do it, gotten sick o’ her askin’ me if Franz liked her or if he was just being polite.”

Mewo chuckled a bit as she thought about her father acting silly and flustered when he always seemed so mature. “So does that mean you’re good at love? How come you’re not married?”

Lihba hummed “I thought about it for a time. There was this guy Hamon I fancied for a bit, but he liked my friend Meryl and she was in love with me and it was a whole big mess. Turns out he was a skirt chaser ta boot and I always preferred hammering away at an anvil anyhow. Whole romance thing just seemed like a big hassle to me.”

“Uhn” Mewo didn’t really understand, but she nodded along as if she did.

Once they had finished their tea Mewo said goodbye to Lihba and headed back to practice at the gladiator’s guild. She hadn’t made any friends at the guild so she was happy to finally have someone to talk to.

-===-

Another month had passed and Mewo was responsible for cooking most nights now. Her father would often flop down onto his bed as soon as he got home and she would have to shake him awake so they could eat together. He coughed and wheezed a lot and Mewo was afraid he had gotten very sick. She continued to visit Lihba every day and several questions had begun to relentlessly dig at the back of her mind.

“If you and dad and mom were all friends, how come you don’t talk much anymore?” Mewo asked

“Yeowch, ya sure know how to hurt an old lady.” Lihba gave a soft chuckle.

“I’m sorry granny” Mewo wasn’t sure what she did wrong, but she didn’t mean to hurt her.

“Don’t mind, ya did nothin’ wrong. It’s just that when Fraelona” Lihba gave a short pause “When she wasn’t there, it was hard to see Franz. I’d keep thinkin’ ‘bout all the times we were together, all the memories and nights we went out. Drinking and chattin’ too late for our own good, and then I’d think ‘bout how I’d never get to see her again and-”

Her face scrunched up and she rubbed her eyes while taking several deep breathes. “Fuck, I’m not going to cry in front of a godsdamned child.” She muttered.

“Sorry, guess it’s still hard to think about even after so long.” She gave a pained smile as she spoke.

“Um” Mewo bit her lip hard. there was an even bigger question she had been holding back on, but she couldn’t keep quiet any longer.

“How did my mom die?”

Lihba didn’t respond she just stared at her with a serious expression that seemed to be lost in thought.

“Was she tired and coughing a whole lot.” Mewo asked, but Lihba again didn’t respond. Instead she reached over and held onto Mewo’s hand firmly. Even she could understand what that meant.

Several weeks later a man she didn’t know knocked on her door, he said he was a friend of Franz’s from the mines. Her father had collapsed and several of the miner’s had rushed him over to the healer’s cottage.


	2. Wandering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mewo is lost and could use a guiding hand

“His lungs are in bad shape, the dust and smoke from the mines have done a number on him. The Conjurer’s might be able to do something about it, but the cost would be enormous.”

On a bed inside the healer’s cottage lay Franz, his breathing sharp and ragged. A stern Elezen chirurgeon in white and red robes examined his body for various illnesses and wounds. Mewo meanwhile sat on a nearby stool and watched while he relayed the information to her.

“I-I can sell off my sword, and we have some money saved. Almost 2000 gil.” Mewo stuttered, a twinge of panic in her voice.

“The cost for this kind of procedure is in the hundreds of thousands and there’s just not much I can do at this point.” the Elezen said as he gave a dejected sigh.

“No, no you’re wrong. He’ll be okay, dad will be okay. He’s strong he’ll get better.”

The doctor was at a loss for how to comfort the small child, in the end he could only say “I’m truly sorry.”

The next 10 days felt like a bad dream. Her once larger than life father could barely walk, barely breath, and barely eat. Mewo spent all day cleaning his sheets and clothes, cooking him gruel and soups that were easy to eat. Every night she would sleep in his bed, clinging on to him and praying he would get better. To Mewo it felt like the only two things that he was able to say now were

_I love you_

and

_I’m sorry_

On the 10th day she woke up and he was no longer breathing, he wouldn’t respond to anything she did or said. She didn’t cry or shout, she simply walked over to the chirurgeon and told him that her dad wouldn’t wake up. The chirurgeon looked over Franz body and declared him dead, he was then taken away to be buried in the local graveyard.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“My condolences.”

“You have my sympathies.”

Mewo heard these phrases repeated to her as she watched him placed in a coffin and buried in the ground. Then she returned to her home as if nothing had happened.

None of it felt real.

Mewo stared at the wall of the house she had grown up in, sitting on her father’s bed wrapped in his blanket. It had been 3 days since he passed away and she had barely eaten or slept in that time. Every day she would stare at the wall dazed, she didn’t know a house could feel this cold and empty.

“What do I do, they’ll be here tomorrow”

The gil that was saved up had disappeared in a flash over the past two weeks, there was no way she could afford to pay rent. Still feeling dazed Mewo took her sword and the two eternal bonding rings her father kept in the drawer. The rings weren’t worth much more than a few hundred gil, but to Mewo they were everything, the only remaining memory of her parents. She headed outside and wandered off aimlessly around the residential houses of the goblet.

-===-

Eventually the sun started to set and the lack of food was beginning to catch up with Mewo. She was hungry, but she didn’t have any gil so she wasn’t sure what to do. As she pondered her situation Mewo spotted a large garden in the front yard of an even larger home. Planted there were all different kinds of vegetables and fruits, the sight of which make her stomach grumble.

“It’s so big that they wouldn’t miss it if I took some right?” Mewo tried to reassure herself.

She hesitated, but in the end her hunger won out. She grabbed several bell peppers and tomatoes and snuck off to a nearby alleyway to eat them. She took a bite of one of the peppers and it was pure bliss, she felt like she had never eaten anything so good in her entire life.

When she had finished devouring the food she had taken she finally felt relieved, the hunger that pained her was completely gone. A new feeling soon replaced it though, a feeling of intense guilt. She had taken someone else’s belongings without asking and she couldn’t possibly return it. She felt deeply ashamed of herself and hurried away from the garden as quickly as she could.

It was dark now and Mewo needed to find some place where she could sleep. She ended up wandering back to the home she had left out of habit, but when she got to the door she realized she wouldn’t be able to stay there anymore.

Disheartened she continued walking, eventually making her way to Lihba’s house. Approaching the door she suddenly felt an intense sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was overwhelmed by the thought of seeing granny sad and crying, she couldn’t bring herself to knock on the door. Her heart couldn’t take it.

There was only one other place that Mewo could think to go and after walking through the city she finally arrived at the gladiator’s guild. Fortunately the door to the guild was still open and inside the guild master was getting ready to lock up for the night.

“Mewo? Practice has already ended for the day.” The guild master responded bluntly as he often did. When he received no response from her he furrowed his brows “Is something wrong?

“I need a place to sleep.” Mewo finally blurted out.

The guild master stared at her for a moment as she fidgeted nervously before heading over to the reception desk. From behind the counter he pulled out a heavy quilt blanket and brought it over to Mewo.

“Take this, it gets cold in here at night.” He abruptly handed her the blanket and headed out of the guild, locking the door behind him.

Mewo went to the corner of one of the mats and wrapped herself up with before laying down. She knew this wasn’t a permanent solution, but for now she was tired and she wanted to sleep.

She woke up early the next morning, but her situation hadn’t changed so she was at a loss at what to do. Having no new ideas she sat down with her back to the wall and stared at the floor and lost herself in thought. She barely noticed as the guild master arrived and then after some time even the students started to arrive. Still she sat and stared at the floor, unable to find the energy to do anything else.

“He’s just sitting there moping, he won’t say nothin either” one of the boys remarked.

The guild master had let her stay for the night, but he couldn’t just leave her alone forever. He approached Mewo and after an awkward silence he finally decided on a greeting.

“Hey, how are you doing?” he crouched down in front of her so they were at eye level as he spoke. Several seconds passed without Mewo responding.

“I heard about your father, I’m sorry for your loss. You can talk to me if you want” he tried to console her, but again she remained silent.

The guild master scratched at his chin trying hard to think of some words of encouragement “Come on Mewo, you’re Franz’s little boy. I know you’re tougher than this”

Mewo scowled, a tiny spark of anger formed and ignited her previously stagnant emotions, she quickly became furious. His comforting words had the complete opposite, she felt like he was making fun of her. The truth is that she had been angry this whole time, ever since her father first collapsed. She was angry at the healer for not helping her dad. Angry at her dad for getting sick and dying and leaving her alone. Angry at herself for being powerless to do anything about it.

“I hate you!” Her fury erupted and she screamed as she leapt at the guild master, punching him squarely in the face.

He fell backwards, surprised by her sudden attack and watched in panic as she grabbed a practice sword from the wall.

“I hate all of you! I hate you I hate you I hate you” She shouted before lunging at the nearest person, a boy her age who frantically held up his shield as she slammed into him and knocked him to the ground.

“He’s snapped!”

She immediately switched to her next target, the one who had just yelled out, an Elezen in his early teens. He managed to block her first two strikes, but she swept his legs out from under him and stomped on his stomach. Eadric dashed in and knocked her away before she could do any significant damage.

“Get a hold of yourself Mewo” Eadric pleaded as he took a battle-ready stance.

Before Mewo could continue her assault the guild master leapt in and slashed at her sword. She tried to parry but her weapon was knocked clear out of her hand by the force. He kicked her in the stomach and she tumbled to the ground before being pinned down by him. Mewo struggled against him as hard as she could, tears and snot were streaming across her face. Eventually she no longer had the energy to even thrash around.

“I hate you, I hate you” She continued to mutter those words until all that was left was the sound of her sobbing and the groans of the boys she had beaten down.

-===-

Mewo opened her eyes that were now sore from crying. She wasn’t sure how much time she had been out for, but it couldn’t have been too long as she could see people were still arriving for practice. As she regained her senses she noticed she was wrapped in a blanket and someone had their arms wrapped around her. She turned her head and saw that it was Eadric who was holding on to her.

“Well, look who just woke up!” Eadric greeted her cheerfully as she looked up at him.

Hearing his voice suddenly made her remember the mess she had just caused and she felt deeply ashamed. Mewo wiggled to break free of him, she wanted nothing more than to find a deep hole to hide inside of for the rest of her life. In response to her struggling Eadric gripped her even more tightly.

“Nnnope, you’re not getting away that easily. Not until I know you’ve calmed down.” Eadric said in his usual carefree tone.

Mewo gave up trying to break free, she didn’t have any fight left in her. She resigned herself to her fate and instead watched wearily as the students greeted each other, occasionally shooting concerned glances her way. Growing bored of watching peopl she leaned back onto Eadric, she felt the warmth coming from his body and the slow steady beating of his heart.

“Hey Eadric, why are you looking after me?” Mewo asked feeling a mix of boredom and curiosity.

“Probably because you remind me of my little sister?” his face contorted slightly in a way that suggested he wasn’t fully sure himself.

Despite her dazed state her mind had begun snapping together pieces of a puzzle she could never seem to solve “You think I’m like your sister?”

“A biiit, except that you’re a boy of course.” He said as if it were obvious.

“What if I’m not? What if I’m a girl?” the question was directed as much towards Eadric as it was herself.

“Then I’ve been terribly rude to you little lady” He gave a chuckle as he joked but soon stopped as he noticed the faint smile on Mewo’s face.

“Wait, you’re not _actually_ a girl are you?” he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Maybe I am…” Mewo hummed softly.

“What do you mean by that!?” He shook her slightly, hoping to elicit an answer.

“Not telling.” Mewo grinned sleepily as she watched Eadric become flustered. She was relieved that something good could still happen.

“I’m ready to get up Eadric.” She declared. She wanted to do something while her mood was still positive.

“Okay… but I think there’s something you’re forgetting. You caused a lot of trouble after all” Eadric said as he released her from his hug.

As soon as Mewo got up she turned around to face him.

“I’m really really _really_ sorry about everything. And also, thank you Eadric.” She fiddled with her thumbs, even though she resolved herself to apologize the shame didn’t disappear completely.

“Alright alright” He hopped up on to his feet “Like I could stay mad at you anyway.”

Mewo looked for the two boys she had hurt and also apologized to them. She wasn’t sure how effective it was as they both still seemed terrified of her. She wondered if there was something more she could do to make it up to them while she wandered over to the guild master.

“Guild master Swordsong, I’m sorry about everything. I didn’t mean it when I said I hated you.” She truly regretted saying those things to him and desperately hoped he would believe her.

“Apology somewhat accepted, if you want to show you’re sorry you’ll need more than words. Clean up after practice for the next week and I’ll consider the matter settled. Deal?” He uncrossed his arms and extended his hand out towards her.

“Uhn” She shook his hand determined to make up for everything she’d done.

When practice concluded that evening Mewo cleaned up the hall and lay the quilt out on the corner she had slept in the night prior. She still wasn’t sure what she was going to do about her food situation, but she knew one thing that she absolutely had to do.

-===-

Mewo sat on the bench outside the home she had stolen from the previous day. She wondered if they had noticed or if they would even care, but she wanted to apologize either way. It wasn’t until around noon when someone finally approached her. A Miqo’te woman with wheat colored hair wearing a blue sundress and straw hat. She stared at Mewo with big brown eyes, there were faint signs of wrinkles on her face.

“Well hello there! my name is Olivia. Who might you be?”

“I’m Mewo, I’m Franz’s…daughter” feelings of guilt and relief mixed together as Mewo answered.

“Franz, Franz” Olivia repeated the name as she pondered “Wasn’t he the-“ she stopped herself mid-sentence.

“I see, you’re his daughter. Well where are you staying now Mewo?” without skipping a beat she changed the direction of the conversation.

“Ummm I dunno. I’ve been sleeping on the mats of the gladiator guild so I guess that’s where I’m staying?” She wondered why Olivia would want to know.

“Do you need a place to sleep? And maybe something to eat? I know you’ve been taking from our garden here” Far from accusatory, her tone seemed filled with concern.

“Ah, I’m really sorry!” Mewo suddenly remembered the reason she was waiting there.

“It’s alright It’s alright, It’s a community garden. We share the food we grow here so everyone has enough to eat.” She immediately switched to consoling the panicked girl. “Why don’t you come inside and maybe we can get you cleaned up, and fed.”

Mewo felt incredibly guilty about suddenly barging into a place after coming over to apologize, but Olivia had already grabbed hold of her hand and was leading her inside.

As they walked through the entrance and down the hall Mewo looked around at the interior of the house. They had passed by a kitchen and several closed doors, she could hear the sounds of people talking but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Olivia led her up a flight of steps to the second floor and to a room near the back of the house.

“This one is currently empty, so feel free to think of it as your own. You can stay for as long as you need” She opened the door to the room revealing a small space with an adult sized bed and large dresser. The bed took up a third of the area but there was still more than enough space for her. Mewo had so many questions that she wasn’t sure where to even start so she picked the first one to pop into her head.

“Hey Ms. Olivia, what is this place.”

Olivia gave her a warm smile.

“It’s a home for those who need one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had most of this chapter written when I posted the first one, but the next may take some time. Thanks again for reading!


	3. Boarding House Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teaching children that money makes the world go round.

Mewo had been staying in the large house that Olivia owned for 3 days now. Every day she would wake up and take something from the garden to make breakfast with, at first she felt guilty, but Olivia insisted it was okay and she had now become used to it.

After eating she would then leave for the gladiator’s guild and return late at night after cleaning up. She was relieved to have a routine now after the uncertainty and fear that had filled her only a few days before.

Then on the morning of the 4th day she finally encountered another resident, two of them to be exact. A young Elezen woman in a white tunic and cotton pants with long wavy black hair. The word elegant didn’t quite accurately describe her, she was more nimble and light on her feet. Standing opposite her was an Elezen man with short blonde hair wearing a brown and white doublet with grey dress pants. He carried himself loosely, but with enough sophistication to avoid coming across as foolish.

“You’re _sure_ you have everything with you? I am, not, going to be running across town with your sketchbooks again.” The woman flicked her tongue out in a playful manner.

“Oh you deeefinitely would, it would bother you the _whole_ day otherwise. No worries though, I’m sure I packed everything. Give me a kiss good luck just in case?” he tilted his head and gave an obviously fake whimpering expression.

Mewo stood frozen in place watching the couple flirt and kiss in the hallway leading outside. She hoped they wouldn’t notice her, but that hope was soon discarded.

“Looks like we’re blocking the way out~.” She lightly tapped her companion on the chest before turning toward Mewo “Did you need to get through here?”

Unsure of how to respond Mewo remained completely silent.

“Where, are, my manners. Introductions first of course. My name is Amie Claifant and the _adorable_ man next to me is my husband Loullont.” She gestured toward the man as she spoke.

“Ahh you must be the new resident that Olivia spoke about, Mewo was it? A pleasure to meet you young miss” The man named Loullont gave a deep bow.

The phrase ‘young miss’ echoed inside Mewo’s head and she almost forgot to respond.

“Happy to nice you, mweet you. I mean meet you.” Her ears burned red with embarrassment at the greeting she had just flubbed.

Amie performed a curtsy, seeming to have ignored Mewo’s mistake, she then turned to her husband.

“You should probably head out or you’re going to be late.” She gave Loullont a quick kiss on his cheek before spinning him around and gently pushing him toward the doorway.

“Woe is me! My love has abandoned me for another!” He said theatrically as he headed for the door.

Amie gave a soft chuckle as she rolled her eyes at him before turning around to face Mewo.

“Have you eaten yet today? I was just about to sit down for breakfast.” Amie pointed her thumb in the direction of the room next to the kitchen. “Unless of course you have somewhere you need to be?”

Mewo would have preferred to eat alone but she had been surviving on only vegetables for the past few days. The hope of there maybe being bread or popotos or even meat was enough to make her consider the offer.

“I’d like to eat with you.” She meekly responded, her gaze turning toward the ground.

Mewo was then guided over to the Amie’s room. The space inside was much larger than her own but also much less sparse. A significant section was packed with various rolls of cloth, a table filled with drawings of clothing, and a mannequin wearing what looked like an unfinished dress. There was a bed and dresser much like her own, but also a couch next to a wooden coffee table.

“You can sit over there. I’ll bring the food in from the kitchen~.” Amie gestured toward the couch before bounding away. She returned swiftly with two bowls of what appeared to be vegetable soup and half a loaf of bread balanced on top. The sight of the bread made Mewo glad she had agreed to come.

Neither of them talked while they ate and when she had finished Mewo relaxed into the soft cushion of the couch. It had been too long since she had eaten enough to feel this full and she was content with basking in the feeling. Several minutes had passed before Amie finally broke the silence with a question.

“How are you liking it here?”

“It’s fine.” Mewo responded absentmindedly.

“And you’re doing okay?” Amie asked, a tinge of concern in her voice.

“Uhn.” Mewo again responded dully.

“If you ever need anything just let me know, okay?” Amie placed her hand on Mewo’s head and gently ruffled her hair as she spoke.

Mewo had not been entirely truthful, she did not feel okay, she was terribly homesick and even more so missed her father. She thought if she said these things out loud though, it would cause some part deep inside her to break. Instead she sat in silence next to Amie for some time until boredom had set in.

“Do you make clothes Ms. Amie?” The rolls of cloth and mannequin had popped back into Mewo’s mind and she had become curious about them.

“Nope nooo, all that stuff is my husband’s. He works over at the weaver’s guild, he has _quite_ the deft hand.” She had a proud smile on her face as she spoke.

“All of my clothes were designed and made by him. With some of my input of course! His outfits are gorgeous, but they can be hard to move in and I prefer plain designs. Once an adventurer always an adventurer I suppose” Amie said with a smirk.

“Does Amie also know how to use a sword?” Mewo was now suddenly very interested in this conversation. She recalled the adventurers who would visit the gladiator guild on occasion.

“Hardly, I’m a thaumaturge, a rather good one if I do say so myself.” She hummed cheerfully as a grin appeared on her face.

“But you can fight and stuff right!?” Mewo asked excitedly.

“That’s one way of putting it, yes” Amie gave a dejected sighed “I’d rather study magic than fight with it if I can, buuut the fighting part certainly paid more. Not that I’ve done much of either recently.” Amie spoke wistfully.

“You’re not an adventurer anymore?”

“Not for 2 years now was it? I mostly keep house and help out at the thaumaturge guild.” She leaned back into the couch and stared at the ceiling as she talked.

“Why did you stop?” Mewo continued her barrage of curious questions. Amie paused for a moment, she appeared to be lost in thought.

“Our trip into Cutter’s Cry didn’t go as planned.” Amie’s eyes remained fixed on the ceiling and she started to rub her forearm with her hand as she gave out the vague response.

“What happened?” Mewo energetically asked, she didn’t know what a Cutter’s Cry was but it sounded exciting.

“We weren’t expecting to run into a chimera.” Amie responded flatly.

The rubbing on her arm turned into scratching as she continued to look up at the ceiling dazed. Mewo didn’t feel like she was getting any real answers so she asked another question.

“Is that a monster, is it strong?”

Amie didn’t say anything she just stared at the ceiling as the scratching at her arm dug deeper. Mewo was becoming frustrated at the lack of response, but Amie hadn’t seemed to notice. She continued to tear at the skin on her arm, blood was beginning to drip from the scratches.

“Amie, your arm!?” Mewo noticed the bleeding and panicked.

“Oh shoot, I’m sorry. This is a bad habit, I’ll go get a bandage. I’m Sorry.” Amie snapped out of her trance and started to apologize profusely.

Mewo was deeply confused and distressed, she was also afraid to ask about the scratching. Amie returned after a few moments with a bandage wrapped around the wound, her face looking slightly pale.

“I’m feeling a bit tired right now, how about you come over tomorrow morning again and we can chat more? I have some dodo eggs, I can whip up a couple omelettes, we can invite Olivia over too.” Amie gave a strained smile as she leaned against the wall for support.

“Okay…” Mewo gave a hesitant nod, she wasn’t sure what to think about what had just happened, but she didn’t think that Amie was a bad person.

-===-

She waved goodbye to Amie as she headed out the room and left the house traveling in the direction of the gladiator’s guild. When she arrived she noticed that there were already other students present, including Eadric.

Mewo headed over to him while being struck with the feeling that he looked different than before. She scanned over his blond hair parted down the middle, the black eyes and mischievous face, and stopped when she got to his cotton tunic which seemed unusually bright. She couldn’t be sure as she had never really paid much attention to him before and her previous image of him was vague.

“Are you wearing new clothes?” She decided to take a guess.

“You noticed! It was my nameday yesterday, I’m now 16 so my father got me these as a present.” Eadric gave a beaming smile.

“As such, I am now officially an adult and you will treat me as such young miss.” He stood with his chest puffed out and nose turned up in an exaggerated manner as he spoke.

“I will not.” Mewo stepped on his foot and marched passed him while holding the hems of a pretend dress in a way she imagined a noble lady would. She had never played along with him before, but she wanted desperately to avoid slipping into her own thoughts.

Eadric scoffed “I’ve never been so humiliated, I demand a duel my lady” he grabbed a sword and shield from the rack and tossed them to Mewo while picking up his own set.

She tried to think up a good response but couldn’t and took up her stance to show she was ready instead. Eadric rushed in with a stab which Mewo side-stepped to avoid, his shield immediately followed after her but she ducked under the blow. She went in for a low kick that he leaped backward to avoid not expecting for her shield to come flying up towards his face. He deflected the shield only to find the point of her sword resting on the center of his chest.

“You threw your shield at me!?”

“Guild master Swordsong taught me how.” she gave a smirk filled with pride as Eadric turned toward the guild master and shot him an irritated look.

The normally gruff man burst into laughter at seeing this “He’s been coming in early all this time so why not teach him a few extra things?”

“She.” Eadric exclaimed with an expression that was annoyed at several things.

“She?” The guild master looked over to Mewo who’s face contained a mixture of nervousness and resolve.

He cleared his throat “So I taught her how to throw her shield.” He scratched at the greying stubble on his chin while he pondered. “Would you like to learn as well?”

“If you please would, I would be delighted to learn from you guild master Swordsong.” After making an overly formal request he let out a deep sigh. “I can’t let her get too far ahead of me.”

Mewo was disappointed at losing her sparring partner and spent the rest of the day working on the aim of her shield throws as Swordsong taught Eadric the technique. When the sun was finally setting she got to work cleaning up the practice area only to be interrupted by the guild master.

“Hey Mewo, have you ever thought about what you’re going to do with your skills?” It was an unexpectedly deep question that she did not have an answer for.

“I dunno.” She replied absentmindedly as she moved a striking dummy into its corner.

“When you have a goal it can make it easier to deal with the hard times, it can give you some direction. Some people take their skills to the Arena, some join the Brass Blades, some become adventurers. Eadric wants to join the blades for example, just give it some thought.”

The guild master watched as Mewo continued to clear out the mats without replying to him. The cleaning continued in silence until she had finished sweeping which meant she was now done and could go home.

“Have a good night Mewo” Swordsong called out to her as she left.

“Uhn, good night guild master.” she replied flatly, his words earlier were weighing heavily on her mind.

She returned to the house and chewed on a ramhorn zucchini taken from the garden as she made her way inside. Once she was finished eating she took a bath and then headed to her room, all the while thinking about what Swordswong had said.

Mewo lay awake in bed unable to sleep, the nights were always the hardest on her. During the day she could distract herself with conversations or sword practice or cooking, but alone in her bed the thoughts all came rushing in.

What was she going to do with her life, it had all become filled with uncertainty and thinking about it meant thinking about living without her father. His absence was a gaping hole and every thought only made it more apparent. Eventually the exhaustion from her body would give way to sleep and she could focus on making it through the next day.

-===-

As the sun started to rise and light flooded in, Mewo awoke and headed down to Amie’s room. She knocked on the door hoping she had not arrived too early only to be greeted by both Amie and Olivia.

Amie had tied her black hair up into a wild ponytail and wore a plain t-shirt, she looked especially energetic today. On the couch next to her sat Olivia who was wearing blue overalls with her hair tied back into a single braid, the streaks of grey were more visible without her sun hat.

“Good morning Mewo! Breakfast won’t be for a little while. Loullont went to grab a fresh loaf of bread, he’ll be joining us in a bit.” Olivia spoke, her voice as sweet as always.

“We _were_ going to draw straws over who would go but he up and left when he saw Olivia arrive. What an overly considerate oaf.” Amie sighed with an obvious smile on her face. She beckoned Mewo over and patted the seat between her and Olivia.

“Well when the person they call ‘Mom’ comes over, wouldn’t you want to give them some space to talk?” though her tone was playful, the warm smile never left Olivia’s face. Amie gave an exasperated sigh at the remark as Mewo sat down between the two.

“You’re Amie’s mother?” Mewo asked, confused.

“She didn’t give birth to me if that’s what you mean, but I do think of you as a sort of mom Liv” Amie said as she looked over at Olivia. “Not to say Oleane isn’t a mom to me, you’re both my mom in a way. I’ve got two moms is how I see it.” She became flustered as she tried to explain, quickly taking a sip of her tea to distract herself.

“I know I know, I was just teasing dear. I’ve always thought of you all as like my children, whether you think of me as your parent or not. It makes me happy when you say it though.” Olivia smoothly sipped on her tea with a cheerful smile.

“She’s quite like the sun isn’t she?” Amie proclaimed excitedly to Mewo who vigorously nodded along.

“Oh please, you’re going to make me blush.” Olivia protested but it was entirely too late as her cheeks were dyed red. _And now she looks like a sunrise_ Mewo wanted to say but was far too embarrassed to actually exclaim.

Before they could get far into their conversation they heard someone shouting at the front door.

“Olivia! Olivia I need your help! Oswold’s lost it!”

Hearing her name being called Olivia briskly made her way to the front entrance with Mewo and Amie following close behind.

“Leodwald, why are you shouting? What’s going on with Oswold?” She showered the man with questions after opening the door.

Through the doorway Mewo could see a blond haired Hyur man, he looked to be around Olivia’s age and his face was somewhat familiar.

“Johanna told me that Oswold bought a sword, something about fighting the blades. They’re gonna kill him Liv” Leowald wore a panicked expression on his steely face as he explained.

Olivia gave an exasperated sigh and massaged the bridge of her nose in frustration. “I’ll head over there right now.” Without so much as a word to Mewo or Amie she followed the man outside.

Mewo dashed upstairs to retrieve her sword and ran out the front door hoping she could still catch up before the two were out of sight. She spotted them walking hurriedly down the goblet street in the distance and rushed toward them, following along as they went.

The three eventually came upon a small one floor cottage, Mewo was pretty sure that Olivia had noticed her, but hadn’t said anything.

“Oswold, are you there. It’s Olivia, could you open the door please?” she knocked on the door while she spoke, there was a great deal of concern in her expression.

“Liv, what are you doing here?” A young Hyur man with messy short black hair and a large beard opened the door. He leaned heavily to one side and his gait was unstable.

“Did you really buy a sword?” She cut straight to the point. His face grimaced and he looked over at Leodwald with an annoyed expression.

“So what if I did?”

“And you’re planning on fighting the blades too? Oswold really, why?” Olivia frowned, her demeanor was like that of a mother scolding a child.

“I don’t have any other choice! They’re gonna be here and I can’t get taken away. I can’t leave Johanna, a-and Mary just turned three. I don’t want her to grow up without a father.” Oswold looked down at the floor as he spoke, his eyes refused to make contact with Olivia’s.

“Mewo, would you be a dear and toss me your sword” She requested in a sweet tone without turning back. Mewo was shocked for a moment to suddenly be addressed but since Olivia was asking she threw over her sword as requested.

Olivia turned her head for a split second as she snatched the sword out of the air and thrust it in front of Oswold. “Take it, let’s see how useful you think a sword will be.”

She held out the sword until Oswold finally grabbed it, then she backed up out of the doorway and walked ten steps away before turning back around to face him.

“Come on then, show me.” She commanded.

Oswold took several steps out of his home and looked down at the sword in his hands. He removed the blade from its scabbard and clumsily held it in front of him. As soon as he readied himself Olivia dashed in at an incredible speed. Oswold could barely react before she had his arm in her grip, she twisted it around and chopped at his wrist, disarming him and kicking him to the ground. It all happened in one swift trained motion.

“This was never a real solution Oswold” She gathered the scabbard from off the ground and sheathed the sword before handing it back to Mewo, then she helped Oswold up off the ground and embraced him while squeezing tightly.

“Let’s go inside and we can have some tea and discuss this like adults.”

Olivia and Oswold went inside the cottage to talk privately. As soon as the door was shut Leodwald turned to face Mewo.

“So you’re Mewo huh? My boy Eadric never shuts up about you, you know. My daughter Elina has been driving me crazy asking to meet you too.” Leodwald inhaled sharply before extended his hand out to her when he finished. She grabbed hold and he gave a quick shake before letting go.

“Pleasure to meet you. Come over some time for dinner” He gave a short wave and headed off without waiting for her to respond.

Mewo stood still as she processed what he had just said before realizing she could hear voices coming from the cottage. She was curious about what they were saying so she leaned against the wall to hear them clearer.

“You stole from the mines!? Oswold, why!?” Olivia was shouting, her voice sounded clearly upset.

“I couldn’t afford the rent anymore Liv, we barely had enough for food as it is.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this!? We could have thought about it together.” A voice Mewo didn’t recognize had joined their conversation.

“I didn’t think I would get caught, it was just one or two gems a day! One of the miners must have snitched on me- I bet it was Rhitu that _snake_.” The sound of a fist slamming onto a table punctuated his disgust.

“It doesn’t matter how you were caught. You shouldn’t have taken the risk in the first place!” The unknown voice spoke with a great amount of distress.

“I’m sorry Johanna, I really am. It’s just…I worked for that mine for 10 years. 10 years, I mined countless gems that could have bought a dozen houses! Now they won’t even pay me enough to live, to buy food for my family. My leg was smashed in _their Mine_! Working to make _them rich_! And they just throw me away like a broken pick!” Oswold’s words had become hoarse, Mewo could hear the sounds of him sobbing in the silence after he spoke.

Mewo didn’t want to listen in anymore, she returned to the house, her mind was in a whirlwind. When she entered through the front door she was greeted by Amie and Loullont. When they saw her distressed face Loullont guided her into his room and sat her down on the couch, he grabbed a small blanket and wrapped it around her without saying a word.

He continued to rub her back to comfort her until Amie arrived in the room with several omelettes and toast on wooden platters. Mewo silently ate as the couple watched over her and ate their own meals. After they finished eating they heard the sound of someone coming through the front entrance and went to get up but Mewo stayed in place. Loullont stretched his arms out in front of her and she grabbed hold as he pulled her up and carried her out to greet Olivia.

“Amie, Loullont, Mewo. This is Johanna and her baby Mary. They’ll be staying with us for some time.” Olivia introduced the Hyur woman, her emerald eyes were red and puffy from crying and her long brown hair was considerably disheveled.

“It’s good to meet you.” Johanna gave a short nod, her voice was ragged and strained as she greeted them.

“Your room is right over this way Johanna, let me know if there’s anything you need.” Olivia guided them to the room across from where Amie and Loullont lived. “Now then Loullont, would you mind carrying Mewo up to her room on the second floor, last one on the right. I’ll be up there in a moment”

He gave her a short nod as he carried Mewo upstairs and laid her on to her bed. She curled up as she lay there for a moment before Olivia entered carrying a stool while closing the door behind her.

“I had Amie tell Swordsong you’ll not be coming to practice today if that’s alright with you. You don’t have to worry about anything today, I can bring you food and water, just get your rest okay.” She squeezed Mewo’s hand as she spoke.

Mewo gripped on to Olivia’s hand tightly, she felt like a dam was breaking inside her and tears were welling up in her eyes.

“He’s dead you know, my dad is dead. They said his lungs got beat up cause of the mines. Well mom also had beat up lungs and she worked in those mines too. He had to have known it’d happen to him too, so why. Why did he stay in those stupid mines!?” Tears were streaming down Mewo’s face as she spoke. Olivia continued to squeeze her hand as she stroked her hair.

“He’s gone, I’m never going to see him again.”

Mewo continued to sob as she thought about her father, she thought about all the times she’d spent with him and all the times she’d never have. She cried and cried until she lost consciousness, Olivia holding her hand the entire time.

For the next week Mewo stayed in bed only coming out when she absolutely needed to, Olivia and Amie would come up to bring her food or water. She slept as much as she could, sometimes having nightmares, vivid reimaginations of the day she had woken up and her father had not. Sometimes they were more abstract but terrifying all the same.

Finally on the morning of the 8th day she left her room and drew herself a bath. She felt as if everything was washing away with the water, an entire lifetime worth of tears spilling in one week.

She greeted Amie and Olivia and Loullont, as well as Johanna. They ate breakfast together and talked though Mewo didn’t say much. She still felt stuck in an inescapable mire only now there was a burning thought stuck in her mind. She wanted to pay back Olivia for all that she had done for her and the one thing that she always consistently came back to, was gil.

-===-

Mewo arrived at practice especially early that day, she had something important she wanted to discuss with the guild master.

“You want to know how to earn gil? Well there are some people in the arena who could use someone enthusiastic, mostly grunt work. It won’t pay too much, but if you can get in with the arena crowd you might get to compete earlier and make some decent pay.” He scratched at his chin as he thought.

“Please!” Mewo jumped at any chance she could find.

“Ha! Looks like you were listening to me after all.”


	4. Queen of the Arena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teenagers and Sandworms and Alchemists, Oh my!

“I AM THE QUEEN OF THE ARENA AND YOU ALL WILL BOW DOWN TO ME!”

Swordsong watched as his student rampaged through the class while laughing maniacally. “Mewo is at it again.” he sighed “It’d be cute if she wasn’t so bloody terrifying with a sword.“

“It’s ‘cause Eadrics gone, widdle lownly guwrl.” Standing next to Swordsong was a Lalafell making mocking crying motions as he spoke. “Or maybe it’s ‘cause she’s a bored teenager and your students are weaker than _marmots_.”

The Lalafell laughed, the styled short blond hair and loose open vest he wore combined to give him an intense air of arrogance.

“Just let her know you’re here Chachi so you can leave.” Swordsong narrowed his eyes in an irritated manner.

“Sure thing _boss._ ” Chachi gave an insincere affirmative as he flipped the bow from his back into his hands and nocked three arrows onto it, firing them directly at Mewo’s head as she was mid swing. Mewo contorted unnaturally to dodge the arrows, causing her to miss her strike entirely.

“Oh piss!” Chachi cursed reflexively as he leapt backwards to avoid a shield which then slammed into the spot he had been standing. He watched as it ricocheted back to its owner’s hand.

“You’ll have to try harder than that CC!” Mewo stuck her chest out as she huffed indignantly at the Lalafell.

“Weaker than a marmot huh.” Swordsong let out an amused snort.

“Yeah Yeah” Chachi rolled his eyes at him before looking over at Mewo “Come on brat! It’s Arena time, we’ve got skulls to crack.”

It had been three years since Mewo started working for Chachi in the Arena. While there were several people she liked a great deal more who frequented the place, he was _the only one who would_ _be shady enough to sponsor a kid to fight in a pit match_ as he himself stated.

They moved to the waiting area outside the door leading into the Arena and Mewo inspected her equipment as she probed Chachi for information on her opponent.

“So who am I fighting today?”

“Theran, he hits hard. I’d say dodge, but he also swings fast so just don’t get hit directly.” His arms were crossed as he leaned against the wall, eyes focused on Mewo. “I didn’t bet money on this match.”

Mewo smiled as she nodded, _this will be a fun fight_. She’d been looking forward to challenging Theran since the first time she met him. Not because she thought he was a jerk, he was actually pretty nice, though incredibly awkward. She’d just never seen someone fight with a battleaxe before and thought it would be interesting.

Chachi’s expression changed to a wicked grin “Don’t go easy on him just ‘cause he reminds you of _dear ol’ dad_.”

Mewo did her best not to show any signs of being bothered, she knew it’s what he was aiming for.

“But hey, even if you lose you can always go running into Amie’s arms. _Comfort me Amie, I’m so sad, embrace me and give me a nice, big, smooc-“_ Mewo’s hand slammed against the wall as she glared at him, her face bright red.

Chachi sported a wide irritating smirk “Good Luck~”

Mewo took several deep breathes to calm herself as she opened the large wooden door to the Arena. Inside she could see Theran standing on the opposite side of the massive stone pit, crowds of people were gathered on the railings high above them. She stepped inside to thunderous applause from the audience, it felt good to have so many people cheering for her.

“The Queen of the Arena has arrived!” Mewo shouted before readying her stance. The crowd cheered even louder at her announcement and she couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear.

Theran breathed in deeply then exhaled before taking a few practice swings with his massive battleaxe. He was tall, even for a highlander, and his muscles were equally impressive. A heavy leather jerkin covered his chest and he wore thick leather gloves, boots, and pants. Mewo by comparison only had an iron breastplate over plain cloth clothes to go along with her iron sword and shield. Not much protection against a blow from that axe.

After sizing up her opponent, Mewo cautiously walked forward making sure to not leave any openings for him to exploit. When the distance closed to just under 3 yalms Theran suddenly burst forth cutting down diagonally with his axe. She deflected the blow with her shield, but he brought it back around with the same momentum and the second blow came almost immediately after.

She was careful not to take any hits head on, but each strike still hammered her nearly to the ground. Then suddenly a horizontal strike came, she ducked while holding the shield slanted to deflect it but the force of the collision sent her skidding across the ground. Mewo felt the blow deep in her bones as if they might shatter, she needed to change tactics fast.

Theran stepped in with another diagonal strike, but Mewo dove forward while slashing at his leg. She would have left herself vulnerable if not for the fact that the leg she aimed for was the one currently holding his weight. Dodging the blow was awkward for Theran and it caused him to lose balance as the momentum of the axe pulled him along. At the same time she had turned and threw her shield at his head, then immediately planted her feet and lunged forward at him.

Theran managed to move his arm in front of his face to block the shield but couldn’t avoid the follow up slash from her. Her sword sliced a deep gash in the arm he had used to defend, his bicep almost completely severed.

Mewo attempted to continue the assault with a stab at his leg but he managed to swing his axe at her from an awkward angle, forcing her to move back. She circled around and grabbed her shield as she put distance between the two of them. His right arm was now bleeding profusely and she knew she could exploit that.

She moved in toward him and as she closed the distance he again rushed in to swing at her. This time though there would be no immediate follow up, she parried the heavy blow and stabbed through his left arm.

Thinking the match was practically over she let her guard down when a powerful kick to her chest sent her rolling across the ground, knocking the wind out of her. She coughed and wheezed as she tried to force air into her lungs, watching as Theran wearily rushed toward her. There wouldn’t be a second lapse in her judgement, when he finally reached her she sped forward and sliced through the hamstring in the back of his leg causing him to topple over from the sudden loss of balance.

“Yield!” Mewo shouted at him.

Theran tried to stand up, but he could not place any weight on his cut leg and slumped onto his knee. He took a haggard breath and exhaled slowly before throwing his axe aside and shouting “I Yield!”

Mewo lifted her shield and sword above her head shouting at the audience “Your Queen is victorious!”

The crowd burst into applause and Mewo soaked in their attention. Conjurers had already moved on to the field to take care of Theran’s wounds before she decided she had basked in her victory long enough. She marched out of the arena with a beaming smile on her face and headed back towards the waiting area.

It wasn’t until her adrenaline had worn off that she noticed her chest was in considerable pain. She looked at the breastplate she was wearing and noticed a deep dent in the center. The chirurgeon on standby in the waiting area with her also notice.

“It looks like you took quite the hit, you should really get that looked at”

Even though the chirurgeon seemed genuinely concerned for her Mewo _despised_ talking to the healers, unfortunately her chest was throbbing in pain and it seemed unwise to ignore it. She removed her breastplate and had her injury examined, there was a large black and blue bruise in the center of her chest.

“It looks like you’ve got a nasty bruise, but no broken bones. It’s fortunate that you’re so sturdy for a boy your age” the healer stepped away and opened a nearby cabinet, sifting through the various pouches and vials.

Mewo grimaced, she wanted to scream. They all took one look at her body and decided she was a boy. Every. Single. Time. The thrill from the fight and the cheering from the crowd, it all went away, replaced with a buzzing emptiness. Mewo put on her shirt and walked out of the room without waiting for the healer to finish. She wanted to be alone, somewhere where nobody was around and where nobody could see her.

She walked back to the goblet towards her house and up to her room without talking to anyone. As she lay on her bed she could feel the sting of her chest and she felt like a fool for getting so upset that she had left before being treated. She cursed herself for being so bothered by the word boy and she cursed her body for making everyone think she was one. She stared up at the ceiling with her mind racing and chest aching until she became exhausted, falling asleep in a mire of self-loathing and pain.

-===-

Mewo woke up in a miserable mood the next day, her chest still stung terribly. She went to the washroom to splash some water in her face and comb out her bedhead as she stared at her reflection in the water of the basin. For some reason she couldn’t get her black shoulder-length hair to look right no matter how hard she tried and she gave up in frustration.

Things did not improve as she ran into Olivia in the hallway.

“But why give it to Theran, I was the one who won!” Mewo huffed, she didn’t normally argue with Olivia, but she was irritated today.

“Mewo, why do you fight in the Arena?” Olivia calmly responded, unfazed by Mewo’s temper.

“B-because we need money for stuff like the house, and food.”

“I’m sure you could afford those things and more with what you earn, but you still give it to me. Why is that?”

“’cause you help me out and um…let me stay here. Even when I wasn’t making any money.” Mewo was beginning to feel ashamed of how she was acting and started twiddling her thumbs.

“Because you needed the help and so I helped, but now Theran and his family need help so I’m helping them. When we get together as a community and look out for each other, _that_ is when we are the strongest and most secure.”

“Uhn…” Mewo looked down at the ground to avoid Olivia’s eyes.

“Do you want your money back?”

“Nuh-uh! I gave it to you!” Mewo protested with panic in her voice before being pulled into an embrace by Olivia. She was hugged tightly as her back was rubbed in a consoling manner.

“You’ve got a big heart Mewo, don’t let it wither. Now be a good girl and get washed up, we’ll be eating breakfast soon…and you kind of stink.”

Mewo realized she hadn’t taken a bath after her match in the Arena yesterday and she was now deeply embarrassed “You didn’t have to say it like that.”

After washing up she headed over to Amie’s room. When she arrived, Amie was mid conversation with Johanna while Mary sat on her lap having her hair braided.

“Which is why we’ll be staying here even after he returns.” Johanna spoke in her usual taciturn manner.

“That makes me happy to hear~ You two have been absolutely _lovely_ and I would dearly miss you.” 

“Mewro!” the little girl shouted excitedly as she spotted her walking in.

They exchanged _Good morning_ ’s as she wandered over to the couch, sitting down next to Johanna while grabbing a plate and shoveling a heap of scrambled eggs onto it from the platter on the coffee table.

Mary hopped down from Amie’s lap as her braids were finished and ran over in front of Mewo, tugging on her pants.

Mewo gulped down the egg she was chewing on and broke into an excited smile “Wow~ You’re so cute, could you be the Sultana?”

Mary flipped her hair proudly as she grinned “I’m gonna show Owivia” and sped out of the room. As she watched over the bundle of pure energy Mewo wondered if this was how Eadric used to see her. She hadn’t seen him at all for over a year, ever since he joined the Brass Blades, it made her feel a bit lonely.

“Time sure flies doesn’t it, I wonder if she’ll even recognize Oswold.” Johanna watched the empty doorway as she spoke wistfully.

Amie gently gripped her hand “You can think about those kinds of things in six months, when he’s back.”

Johanna gave a somber nod as she closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and exhaled sharply before opening them, a smile reappearing on her face. “I’ll go find Mary before she gets into too much trouble.”

After she left, Amie sat on the couch in deep thought as Mewo continued to eat her breakfast, the sound of chewing was the only thing that could be heard for some time.

“Are you still in the mood for a little sparring?” Amie turned her head over to Mewo who was just finishing up the last of her eggs.

“Uhn!”

“Alllright!” Amie hopped onto her feet and stretched her arms “I’ve got a letter to write to my mom, buuut we can head out right after. For combat!” she raised her fist in emphasis.

-===-

“Nope!”

“No!”

“Close!”

“No chance~”

In a clearing in central Thanalan outside the gates of Ul’dah, Mewo sparred with Amie. The Elezen woman dodged each strike gracefully as if in a dance, punctuating the misses with a quip.

Mewo growled, she was becoming increasingly frustrated at how easily Amie seemed to be toying with her. Her swings lost their sharpness and became more ferocious until they were full of openings.

“Your anger is coming through~” She tripped Mewo as she flipped behind her, grabbing her by the arms as she fell forward.

Mewo dropped her sword and shield on the ground in defeat. “I can’t land _anything_.”

“That’s because, I, am a _veteran_ adventurer. And-” She changed from a hold to a hug “I’m focusing everything on defense.”

Mewo was uncomfortably aware of the warmth coming from Amie without her armor on, but she tried to focus elsewhere.

“W-where did you learn to dodge like that?”

“Olivia. Though I dare say, I have _far_ surpassed my teacher.” She giggled a bit as she rested her chin on Mewo’s head. “You two are a lot alike.”

Mewo frowned “I don’t think I’m like Olivia at all.”

“Not true! She became an adventurer to help out Meryl. Much like _you_ fight in the Arena to help her out~” she hummed.

Mewo was becoming increasingly focused of Amie, the smell of her perfume, the soft hums escaping her lips, the feel of her chest pressed against Mewo’s back. She felt like she was burning up and her heart wanted to burst out of her chest. She wriggled, trying to break free of the hold she was in.

“I’m too warm Amie!” She blurted out.

Mewo stumbled forward as Amie released her, she took deep breathes trying to calm the beating of her heart.

“Who’s Meryl?” She tried to shift focus to something else.

Amie crouched down and grabbed a nearby stick, using it to draw in the sand as she spoke “An… _interesting_ person. She used to own the house we live in, _loved_ to rant about _everything_ and _anything_. She had a good heart though, I’m sure that’s where Olivia gets it from.”

She finished her simple drawing of a house and two stick figures holding hands with a smaller stick figure before looking up at the sky “It’s about noon…I should head back soon if I plan on being a _respectable_ teacher.”

“Okay…”

Mewo gathered her belongings and they traveled back together towards the gate before splitting ways as they entered the city, she headed back towards the house while Amie headed off to the thaumaturge guild.

As she walked toward the Goblet she wondered if there was anyone who could help her sort out her feelings about Amie. She thought about Chachi for a moment but remembered the last time she had asked something similar.

_“CC, is there anyone you really really like?”_

_“Guys. The bigger the better.”_

_“But-“_

_“No I will not elaborate.”_

She got a headache just thinking about it.

Mewo arrived home and headed up to her room, as she lay in bed she rubbed the bruise on her chest that had continued to inconvenience her. She grabbed a gil from her pouch and tossed it in the air as she gazed at the ceiling, catching it as it fell back down. As she repeated this game of catch she thought about her body, she wondered why it looked the way it did, why it seemed so different from every other girl she had met.

She thought about Amie, remembering her embrace from earlier. She wanted to touch her, but she also wanted to _be_ her, or maybe be like her. Her thoughts circled around and around in her head until she heard a knock.

“Mewo?”

Hearing Olivia’s voice she sprang up from her bed and moved to open the door.

“Oh good, you’re awake.” She looked at Mewo for a moment “…Are you okay? Your face is flushed.”

“I’m fine.”

“Alright, just don’t push yourself.” Olivia looked at her with a concerned expression but didn’t ask further. “Theran and Emma invited us over for dinner as thanks. Would you like to go?”

Mewo hesitated, she still felt awkward about her outburst that morning, but she wasn’t about to turn down a free meal. “Sure…”

“One other thing.” Olivia reached over to her side and pulled up an iron breastplate from the floor “I had this mended and I _also_ brought over your healing salve.” She handed her the pouch and armor.

“Olivia I-“ Mewo tried to get the words out, but they stuck in her throat. She pursed her lips and stared down at the items in her hand.

“It’s alright dear, It’s okay.” Olivia smiled and placed her hand on Mewo’s shoulder, gently rubbing it. “Let me know when you’re ready and we can head over.”

The salve cleared up her bruise almost instantly and the stinging pain disappeared with it. Mewo sighed in relief, she wished she could get rid of all her other pains this easily. After meeting back up with Olivia in the hallway the two set off for their dinner appointment.

-===-

“Good to see ya Olivia…and Mewo I take it? I’m Emma Milner, pleasure to meet’cha.”

Greeting them at the door was a Roegadyn woman with shoulder length red hair, bangs swept to one side. She wore a white button-up chef outfit with red trim that complimented her hair, the fresh stains suggesting she had been cooking recently.

“Good evening Emma, thank you for having us.” Olivia gave her a quick hug as she greeted her.

“It’s nice to meet you Emma.” Mewo fidgeted as she gave her greeting while looking down at the ground.

“Well aren’t you a shy one! How cute.” Emma reached out and ruffled her hair playfully “Come in and make yourselves at home. Dinners gonna be a bit, I only just got back from my shift.”

The interior of the house felt spacious despite the small area, the kitchen and living area being only separated by a half height partition that seemed to double as a dining table, with chairs lined up on either side. The center area was empty save for a large brown fur rug, a cushioned couch and armchair were placed against the left wall.

Olivia casually walked over to the armchair and sank into the cushion while giving a relieved sigh. Mewo followed along and sat down on the couch next to her.

“Where did you husband run off to? Hopefully not sulking because of his loss.” Olivia called out over to Emma who was starting the fire for the stove in the kitchen.

“Hardly, Theran doesn’t sulk. Even if he did it wouldn’t be over losing a match” She started sharpening her knife and inspecting the blade as she spoke “He’s taking a nap. Whoever he fought thrashed him _pretty_ bad.” 

“Oh really?” Olivia’s mouth formed into a mischievous smile as she glanced over at Mewo who turned away.

“Yup, sliced his muscles clean open. Real precision work, but that’s the Arena for ya.” Emma butterflied open a dodo tenderloin and stuffed it with an herb and cheese mixture. “Thanks again for the gil Liv. Arena was a long shot, but we were desperate. Rent keeps goin’ up but the wages never seem to.”

“You’re always welcome to stay with me, there are rooms available. Also you can thank Mewo for the money, she was the one who won it.” She grinned like a child waiting to get caught.

“Oh! Well thanks Mewo. Gods you’re driving the knife making me borrow from a kid, and I _do_ mean borrow. Theran’s got new work, we should be good once we get past this month.” Emma dropped the stuffed dodo breasts into the hot oil of the pan before giving pause “Hey, what do you mean by _won_?”

“Haven’t you heard? Mewo is the _Queen of the Arena_.”

Mewo ears were burning red with embarrassment at hearing her own self-proclaimed title, she did not dare to utter a single word.

“Excuse me a minute.” Emma walked over to the bedroom door and kicked it several times “Hey Theran! Get your ass out here!”

Several crashing noises later he opened the door with messy hair and wearing only leather pants. Mewo looked on _respectfully_ as Theran scratched his head in visible confusion at the situation.

“You fought a _child_!?” She stared at him in disbelief.

“And lost! I didn’t even hold back!” He stated with a proud look on his face.

Emma closed her eyes briefly and shook her head before snapping back to the same neutral face she’d had before. _If I get upset then they win_ , Mewo knew this feeling well and she sympathized.

“Put a shirt on, we have guests.” She massaged the bridge of her nose before returning to the meal she had been preparing.

Theran returned wearing a cotton shirt to go with his pants and plopped down on the couch next to Mewo. She kept stealing glances over at him and he seemed to have misinterpreted them.

“Conjurers did a bang up job right?” His voice was booming as always.

“Uhn” She stared down at her hands as she fiddled with her thumbs.

“So how’d you lose to someone half your age? Thought you were a veteran adventurer.” A hint of annoyance showed through in Emma’s voice as she pulled the pan off the flame.

“It was like fighting water, forget clean strikes I couldn’t even get _glancing_ ones!” He hadn’t seemed to notice her tone.

Mewo shuddered, _if she had gotten hit would there have even been enough left over to piece her back together?_

“She’s certainly a talented one.” Olivia interjected on Mewo’s behalf as she seemed utterly incapable of talking at the moment.

“Wish I could have seen it. How’d she get permission to compete anyhow?” Emma moved the food from the pans onto platters. Seeing this, Theran moved off the couch and started to set the dishes out on the table.

“She’s sponsored under Chachi, he’s a real piece of work.”

“Your ex? That Chachi?”

“Not really an ex, he doesn’t do dating.” He shrugged.

“Um, CC isn’t all bad. He-“ Mewo finally spoke up while trying to defend Chachi, but she couldn’t think of a positive thing to say and went back to being silent. She just had a feeling that he wasn’t a bad person.

Emma finished plating all the dishes she had prepared, stuffed dodo breast with white wine sauce, fluffy rice pilaf, and various roasted vegetables tossed in butter. Mewo was sincerely glad that she had decided to come, even with all the embarrassment she had endured.

As they dug in on the meal the conversation split into two groups, Olivia and Emma were catching up on current events while Mewo excitedly asked about Therans various adventures.

“It was gorgeous, mountains dyed with lush green, faint misty fog, pristine lakes. I’ve been to few places as scenic as Coerthas, would love to take Emma on a picnic there if It weren’t so dangerous. Blasted spriggan almost tore me to shreds.” He spread his arms wide as emphasis.

Mewo giggled along, his enthusiasm was infectious. As she was thinking about the wide world she’d never seen she came upon a thought.

“Theran, you’ve been lots of places right? Do you know of something that can change someone’s body?”

“Just give it a few years, I bet you’ll get _real_ big and strong!” He gave her a wide toothy grin.

“Not that!” She groaned trying to think of the right words “Something that can make it different.”

He hummed while deep in thought “Sounds like Fantasia.”

“So there is something!” Mewo leapt to her feet, her eyes glittering.

“Sort of, that stuff is legendary _and_ bloody expensive. You’d have to be a syndicate member to have that kind of gil.” Theran frowned as he leaned back into his chair. “The alchemist guild might know more. Severian there has a few screws loose, but he’s a sodding genius. Might even be able to make the stuff, or drive himself mad trying!” He broke into a hearty laugh.

 _Alchemist guild, I’m going tomorrow definitely._ She was so excited she didn’t know if she would be able to sleep that night. As she leaned back into her chair she listened in on Olivia and Emma’s conversation.

“Amajina and Sons are tightening the screws on people. Heard it’s ‘cause the Nanawa mine is slowing down and the Amalj'aa are sodding pissed at ‘em too, been attacking transports.”

“If they keep pushing like that, something is bound to give.” Olivia gave a heavy sigh.

Mewo couldn’t follow along completely, but it sounded very serious. She shifted her mind back to Fantasia and Severian, she wondered if he would listen to her request.

As they headed out for the night, she thanked Emma for _the best meal I’ve ever eaten in my whole life_ and was promptly picked up off the ground and showered in kisses and “ _so cute”_ s. When she returned to her room and rolled into bed, she realized she had been correct before, there was no way she was getting any sleep tonight.

When she arrived at the Alchemist guild that morning, the receptionist pointed her in the direction of Severian, a blond-haired man in a white coat staring intently at vials on a workbench.

“Um, Mr. Severian sir?”

“What is it?” He spoke without turning around.

“I was wondering if you had any Fantasia.” Mewo meekly asked, she struggled to speak as her nervousness overwhelmed her.

“No.” Severian gave a curt response, never taking his eyes off the workbench.

“C-can you, c-c-can you make some?” She stuttered, her body started to feel like it was on fire.

“No.”

“Is t-th-there, is there something like, s-something like it.” She admirably held on as she felt a crushing weight press down on her.

Severian finally turned around to face her “What is it that you’re trying to accomplish. I can answer your question better if I know the desired end result.”

Mewo steeled herself, she needed to convey something she’d never truly been able to say aloud before. As the wall holding her feelings broke the words spilled out of her.

“I’m a girl, but…but I look like boys, or my body is like boys.”

“So you’re a boy?” Severian looked extremely perplexed.

“No! Um um, I’m not a boy, I’m definitely not a boy! I want other people to stop calling me a boy. I want to look like a girl, or um um, I want other people to see a girl. I’M A GIRL!”

Mewo’s eyes were spinning, _kill me, please just kill me._ She prayed to the gods that a basilisk would burst through the wall and chew her to bits on the spot to release her from this agonizing situation.

“Fascinating. I had met a young man with, well, the opposite problem a few years prior. Different solution, however the research yielded a tonic that should aid you.” Severian stared at her with intense interest.

Her mind couldn’t keep up with the new information. Not only did he have something, but she hadn’t been the only one with these thoughts. That there was even one other person in the world like her, that she wasn’t completely alone, it felt like a miracle bestowed upon her by the twelve.

“You…can help me?”

“I’ll require a small fee of course, a sandworm fang should-“ Mewo slammed into the alchemist gripping on to him in a tight hug as tears and snot rubbed into his coat. Severian waited awkwardly until she finally released him.

“Return in one week. With my fang of course.” He turned back to his workbench as she continued to repeatedly proclaim her gratitude until she’d finally exited the guild.

Mewo wasted no time as she rushed back to her house to gather her equipment. She knew that Theran had hunted Sandworms in the Sagolii Desert before and since she had beaten him, they shouldn’t prove too much a threat to her. She packed an extra water pouch before rushing off to the chocobo porter.

She traveled out the central gate, past Black Brush Station, and finally arrived at the Forgotten Springs outpost. Stabling her chocobo as the blistering heat blazed down on her. Out in the desert were sand dunes that stretched for malms, the site of which gave her a little pause. _Was this really a good idea?_ She shook off her doubt as she remembered exactly what she would be exchanging the fangs for.

She traveled south along the eastern crags, passing the river that flowed through Forgotten Springs. It didn’t take long for her to come across a deep chasm in the ground where she spotted her prey off to the distance in the west.

She readied her sword and shield as she psyched herself up _I’ve fought monsters before, they were much smaller but still monsters. I also beat Theran, I can do this, easy as rolanberry pie._

As she approached the monster it noticed her presence and turned its maws in her direction. Mewo gulped as she gripped her sword, watching the Sandworm intensely as she closed in on it.

The worm decided on its next meal and slithered forward at her, spewing a storm of sand in her direction. She crouched down and covered herself with her shield as the sand scraped across it. As she stood back up the monster lifted its head and swept its body at her, she considered blocking the attack but quickly decided against it.

The massive weight of the worm slammed into her shield as she rode the momentum along, letting herself be flung through the air and rolling along the sand before hopping back into her stance. She was glad she hadn’t tried to withstand the attack, she imagined her bones would be in splinters if she had.

Chasing after her the sandworm opened its maw and tried to bite down, but she leapt back while slicing a gash open in its face. The beast thrashed about in pain until it did something she hadn’t been expecting at all. It dove into the sand.

Mewo panicked as she had completely lost track of her foe. She scanned around her for any signs of the worm, desperate to not be caught off guard. The ground exploded out from under her as the enormous mouth rose into the air, the sand blast had knocked her away from becoming swallowed whole.

Immediately it dove again and Mewo wracked her brain thinking of what she could do. Again the worm surfaced beneath her, this time it almost took her leg but she kicked off its head before it could bite down.

Fear began to set in as she landed on the sandy ground. Being able to best someone who can kill a sandworm doesn’t mean you can kill a sandworm. This now seemed alarmingly obviously to her in hindsight. Even so, she wasn’t going to just stand there and be eaten.

The ground rumbled beneath her feet right as the sandworm emerged once more, its mouth had surrounded her. She slammed her shield with all her might into it and managed to vault up and out of its jaws before they could close shut on her.

“Too close!”

The sandworm hid back in the sand as she tumbled to the ground and regained her footing.

“Okay, calm down. Just because you can’t see the worm doesn’t mean you can’t figure out where it is.”

She focused her entire attention on every sound around her, no matter how insignificant. When a faint rumble reached her ears she immediately leapt back, only a moment later did the worm come crashing through the surface where she had once stood.

Not knowing if she would get another chance, she expended every last ounce of her energy hacking away at the exposed flank. Chunks of flesh and blood flew until the worm was nearly split in half. An exhausted Mewo fell over into the sand breathing heavily.

“I hate the sun, I hate the desert, I hate worms, I hate sand.” She vented her frustrations. Sand and blood were stuck to her hair and filled her armor and clothes. The thought of having to trek all the way back out of the desert made her wish the sandworm _had_ eaten her.

After taking a moment to regain herself, Mewo got to work begrudgingly extracting the sandworm’s teeth to bring back to Severian. No longer in mortal danger and having caught her breath, she trudged her way out of the Sagolii desert toward Forgotten Springs.

Blood spattered and still spilling sand, she returned to the alchemist guild to deposit the fangs. She would rather hand them over now so there was no chance of losing them. The receptionist stared at her as she walked into the guild, even Severian had a look of surprise when he saw her.

“Your fangs, I dug out 4 good ones.” The exhausted Mewo dropped her pouch on a nearby table as he looked on at her.

“I assumed you would have gone to the market. You killed a sandworm? _Amazing_.”

“Markets cost gil.” She trudged her way toward the door before turning around “One week!” then proceeded back home for a well-earned bath.

-===-

Mewo spent the next day in bed, she was both mentally and physically worn out by her fight with the sandworm. On top of that she had spent the entire afternoon cleaning and washing out the sand and gore from her belongings. Every time she thought she was done she would find more tucked away somewhere.

She woke up feeling slightly sore and hungry the morning after her rest day and headed downstairs towards the kitchen, but was stopped by Loullont.

“Perfect timing, you are _exactly_ the person I wanted to see.” Loullont grabbed Mewo’s hand and pulled her into his room and guided her to his drawing table.

“Which of these designs do you like most.” He spread out several drawings of dresses in all manner of color and design.

“Huh!?” Mewo didn’t understand what was happening at all.

“Your dress, for your nameday.”

Mewo narrowed her eyes, she had forgotten that was coming up. “Food first.” She wearily said as she walked out to the kitchen, pulling a flatbread out to gnaw on.

She wandered back into the room still chewing on the bread as she looked over the designs. She liked the deep red one with the flower hairpin in the picture, she thought it looked cute.

“This one.” She pointed to the picture with the hand not holding her flatbread.

“As you wish.” He gave a sweeping bow before picking up a measuring tape and pencil. “Your measurements are required of course.”

Mewo swallowed the rest of her flatbread and stood still as Loullont measured out the lengths of her arms. It was difficult to stay in place as she had so many things on her mind so she decided to distract herself.

“Is weaving fun?”

“A difficult question, I do find it _fun_ but that might not apply to you.” He stretched the tape across her shoulders and down her arm to her wrist.

“Would I know if I tried? How did you find out?”

Loullont gave a ponderous hum while he wrote down numbers in his sketchbook.

“I was raised learning to weave, at first I found it exhausting. All doilies and lace and frills.” He stuck his tongue out in disgust. “Eventually I realized I could make what _I_ wanted. Weave my designs, my ideas into the fabric. I stitched in pieces of my identity and soul.” He extended his arms in an exaggerated flourish.

“Once I had _choice,_ even the parts I’d once hated, those frills and laces. Why they didn’t bother me one bit anymore!” He paused for a moment before adding “Well, sometimes still a bit. We all have bad days.”

She wasn’t sure what was so bad about lace and frills, but she understood that he liked weaving now even when he hadn’t before.

“Loullont, why do you talk like that anyway?” Mewo was blissfully unaware of how her comment could come across but he didn’t seem to mind.

“Originally I merely copied the pompous nobles of my Ishgardian home. Our clients preferred it, you see. Now I do so out of habit” He let out an amused chuckle. “Arms up if you please.”

She did as instructed and raised her arms “Does Amie like it?”

“She despised it when we first met, but it’s a source of humor for her at present.” He took several measurements around her chest and wrote them down.

Mewo gave a puzzled frown “You both seem so perfect together though.”

“Well I love her _dearly_ and it _has_ been a journey to reach where we are.” Loullont wore a smile filled with nostalgia.

“We almost broke up at one point, what a _tragedy_ that would have been.” He shook his head before wrapping the tape around her waist and making a mark on it.

“Really!?”

“Yes, _really_. I was determined to open my own shop, but she couldn’t continue adventuring anymore to support it. I hurt her badly back then with how _insensitive_ I was.” Loullont marked her measurements down as he talked.

Once he finished, he had Mewo confirm the design before he began rummaging through the rolls of cloth for the right color. “Visit again a day prior to your nameday, I wish to confirm the fit.”

He waved her off and she headed back to the kitchen to scavenge a more filling meal than plain flatbread.

-===-

The week went by in a flash and she returned to Severian to see if he would really have what she wanted. He seemed to be waiting for her as she arrived, a vial with a blue liquid and dropper placed on the table next to where he stood.

“Take one drop every day before bed. Don’t bother drinking it all at once, it won’t be any more effective.” He handed her the vial and dropper in a small pouch.

“The changes will be slow and _permanent_. There are limits as well, so don’t expect any miracles. You will need to return in one month when I have produced more of the solution.”

Mewo was so excited she could barely keep still as she listened, she wanted to rush back and start immediately. It wasn’t until she had taken the first drop and woken up the next day did she realize what he had meant by _slow_. Still she held on desperately to the hope that her days of being mistaken as a boy would be over.

Another week passed and her nameday was now upon her. She had confirmed the dress size was correct with Loullont the day earlier and was excited to finally get to wear it around. She rushed down to the couple’s room and a groggy Amie answered the door in her nightgown.

“Hah? Mewo? Mmm happy nameday~” She let out a yawn and give Mewo a big hug before shambling off to the kitchen to make tea.

Loullont was still asleep in his bed as she went over and started to shake him awake. “Patience nameday girl.” He mumbled before turning in his sheets away from her.

Amie came in with two cups of tea in hand, a plate of acorn cookies balanced on one.

“Let him sleep, he gets _cranky_ if you wake him early.”

The two sat down on the couch and ate the acorn cookies while drinking tea. Mewo couldn’t remember the last time she had been excited for her nameday. Shortly after they finished the cookies Loullont rolled out of the bed and flopped onto the floor. He stood up and stretched his arms out in a big yawn before sitting down on the bed.

“Alright, If you would be so kind as to vacate my room so that I may change garments. Oh but you can stay dear Amie, if you desire a show.” His drowsiness had not completely worn off as he spoke.

Amie smirked as she picked up a pillow and threw it at him “Come Mewo, let’s put these dishes away.”

Once he had finished getting ready he brought Mewo in to change her into the dress. She walked around the room to show it off, there weren’t any issues with the sizes and it certainly looked very cute. But all of the layers felt unnecessary and the skirt kept bumping into things.

She let out a groan “This is hard to move in.”

“Isn’t it? I always hated wearing them.” He walked over and opened the door to let her out. “Well then, let’s parade you out in front of your adoring fans.”

She finished placing the pin in her hair before heading out and showing her dress to Amie who showered her in compliments. Johanna and Mary wouldn’t be up until later so she went outside and started off towards the Arena. There was one person she wanted to show it to just to see his reaction.

“You look like a pissy noble lady.” Chachi snorted in laughter when he spotted her.

“It does feel a little ridiculous.” She smiled brightly at the _compliment_ , it was about what she expected.

“Gonna fight in a dress? Now _that_ would be a show.”

“That sounds miserable.”

They both laughed as they pictured the absurd image of her wielding a sword and shield in the Arena in the cumbersome outfit.

“Hey brat!” He threw a shield at her head that she smoothly grabbed out of the air “Happy nameday.”

She looked down at the decorated buckler, the design was ornate but it was sturdy and clearly of better quality than her old iron one. “Thanks CC.”

He waved her off as he went back to drinking his ale. _Definitely not a bad person_ she thought as she searched around the Arena for Theran. He didn’t seem to be there that day so she decided to wander off back to her home.

When Mewo arrived back at the house she was greeted by Johanna, Mary hadn’t woken up yet but she was excited to show her the dress.

“Um, where is Olivia?”

If there was one person in the whole of Eorzea that she wanted to see today it was Olivia.

“She ran out for an errand, but she will be back soon” Johanna replied as she brought the dejected Mewo over to Amie and Loullont.

After breakfast the sound of the front door could be heard and Mewo rushed over to see Olivia standing there with a long rectangular package.

“Mewo, happy nameday. You look positively radiant in that dress.” She gave her a kiss on the forehead.

A blushing Mewo replied “Thank you Olivia!” As she ecstatically thanked her she looked the package over, it had caught her eye and she wondered what was inside. Olivia noticed where she was staring and gave her a triumphant smile.

“I’m sorry I was late, I had to fetch this. Go on, it’s a present for you.”

Mewo unwrapped the packaging excitedly and inside was a pristine steel longsword, polished to a shine. She looked at the blade and her heart skipped a beat, it was absolutely beautiful. She then noticed that a card was wrapped around the hilt with a message from the sender.

_Always in my heart. With love, Lihba._

**Author's Note:**

> The first part is kind of a downer, I promise there's a bigger reason for all the angst here. I hope you enjoyed it at least!


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